Issue 2, 2012

Shear-thinning hydrogels for biomedical applications

Abstract

Injectable hydrogels are becoming increasingly important in the fields of tissue engineering and drug delivery due to their tunable properties, controllable degradation, high water content, and the ability to deliver them in a minimally invasive manner. Shear-thinning is one promising technique for the application of injectable hydrogels, where preformed hydrogels can be injected by application of shear stress (during injection) and quickly self-heal after removal of shear. Importantly, these gels can be used to deliver biological molecules and cells during the injection process. This review aims to highlight the range of injectable shear-thinning hydrogel systems being developed, with a focus on the various mechanisms of formation and shear-thinning and their use in biomedical applications.

Graphical abstract: Shear-thinning hydrogels for biomedical applications

Article information

Article type
Review Article
Submitted
05 Aug 2011
Accepted
28 Sep 2011
First published
17 Oct 2011

Soft Matter, 2012,8, 260-272

Shear-thinning hydrogels for biomedical applications

M. Guvendiren, H. D. Lu and J. A. Burdick, Soft Matter, 2012, 8, 260 DOI: 10.1039/C1SM06513K

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements